After the Pool
by cries havoc
Summary: Collins/Cat fic. Set immediately after the "pool scene" where Cat kisses Annabelle. A missing scene of sorts. T for "safety," whatever that means.


Author's Note: Okay, so I start things and I don't finish them. Sorry about my other stories, I promise I'll get back to them eventually. This is a potential one-shot, depending on if anyone actually reads this fandom anymore and wants more. I don't own _Loving Annabelle_ or any characters, but I might as well claim the idea of Collins and Cat together, since NO ONE writes it. I've looked. I adore Collins, she's freaking adorable. And while I'd rather put her with Annabelle, Annabelle obviously has other priorities. In other news, please review, because that would be awesome. First and foremost, of course, I hope you enjoy this.

I have no beta, so any and all mistakes are mine. And I wrote this in one sitting, so I may have missed some typos. Apologies in advance.

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Cat stormed into their shared room, making Collins jump.

Timidly, Collins ventured a soft, "Are you okay?" in Cat's direction.

Ignoring her at first, Cat continued to throw her stuff, including her wet towel, around the room. The towel almost hit Collins in the head.

"She fucking—ugh!" Cat yelled.

"What? Who?" Collins asked, standing up and standing in the middle of the room, wishing she knew how to help her sometimes-friend calm down.

"Annabelle!" Cat stopped a few feet from Collins, chest heaving and wet hair dripping on her mused shirt.

"What happened?" Collins asked, tentatively placing a hand on Cat's trembling shoulder.

"I kissed her and she fucking dismissed me!" Cat's voice was still spilling out into the hall.

For a moment, Collins froze. Shaking off her initial confusion and shock almost immediately, she tried to spring into action the way she imagined a good friend would. She pulled Cat onto the closest bed, which happened to be Kristen's, and sat beside her.

"Okay," Collins started, trying not to stutter, "tell me what happened."

Cat looked blankly at her for a few moments and then sighed, running a hand through her hair roughly.

"We were in the pool and I swam over to her and I started to kiss her and—"

"Wait," Collins said, interrupting, "You just grabbed her face or something?"

Cat nodded, "Well, yeah, I guess. Anyway, I was kissing her and she totally kissed me back," Cat got up and started pacing. "And then she pulls back and is all 'I'm not interested in being your science project' and shit."

"Well," Collins' mind raced, trying to find reason in this unexpected situation, "maybe she was just surprised. Maybe you just caught her off guard, you know?"

Cat stopped at this, "Maybe." She sighed, "I just don't think I'm her type."

Collins swallowed, trying to quell her own nervous reaction to a half-soaked Cat standing two feet in front of her, because Cat could never know.

"She likes Miss Bradley. A lot." Cat started pacing again.

Collins stood up and moved into Cat's path.

"Move."

"No," Collins said, trying to be brave and face Cat head on, "You need to chill. Maybe you aren't Annabelle's type, whatever that means," she flailed her arms a bit, "but why are you getting so worked up about it?"

"I don't know, maybe because rejection sucks?" Cat pushed Collins, but the smaller girl grabbed her arms and stayed on her feet. "Move, damnit!"

"No, calm down Cat. She's our friend and you two need to be okay." Collins tried to glare at Cat, who was definitely glaring at her.

"Why? So we can be one happy family in our dorm? Bullshit." Cat tried to pull her arms back, but Collins held on. "Why do you care so much anyway, I'm a bitch to you."

"You're my friend."

"I treat you like shit," Cat deadpanned.

"At least you admit it," Collins mumbled. Shaking her head, she said more clearly, "You've been my friend since freshman year and I'm not going to abandon you because Annabelle is nicer to me."

"Whatever, let me go," Cat said, rolling her eyes.

"Do you like Annabelle?" Collins asked softly, keeping her hands on Cat's arms. She tried to ignore the feeling in her lower stomach that told her she should back up and move away before things got out of hand and she ruined whatever friendship-thing she and Cat had.

"No."

"Then why did you kiss her?"

Cat slumped a bit, "Because she's hot and she's gay and she's… there, I guess. I don't know." At this, since Cat seemed less about-to-hit-something, Collins let her go. Cat moved to the bed and sat down again. Collins stood in front of her, waiting.

"I mean, I'm bi, but it's hard being the only one. Now that Michelle Peters is gone—"

"How do you know you're the only one?" Collins asked, warning bells going off in her head.

Cat looked up, "Um, I am. Who else is there?"

Collins fidgeted, not wanting, suddenly, for this conversation to be happening. "I mean, what if someone else is gay, or bi," she stuttered, "and they just aren't open about it?"

Cat frowned, "Do you mean hypothetically, or do you know about someone?"

"Hypothetically," Collins responded, stuttering badly now.

"You little liar!" Cat jumped and grabbed Collins' hands, "Who? Tell me!"

"No one," Collins stuttered out.

"Who?"

"No one important." Collins pulled her hands away from Cat's, scared and nervous, and turned away, pushing her hair out of her face.

Cat stood for a moment, thinking, running through names in her head. She blinked, thinking more and looking curiously at Collins.

"Who Collins?" She asked more softly, "Who do you know?"

Collins shook her head, hating that tears were filling her eyes already. She was such a crybaby, Cat always said, and Cat was right.

Cat moved forward, acting on a hunch, and put her hands gently on Collins' shoulders, sliding them partway down the smaller girl's arms. Leaning forward, she said in Collins' ear, "Who?"

Collins tried not to shiver.

Cat had her answer in the tiny shudder she felt under her hands.

"How long have you known… about this girl?" Cat asked, trying to make her voice as nonthreatening as possible. She forgot sometimes, but deep down she really did care about Collins, at least as a friend.

"Forever," Collins whispered, her voice shaking.

Cat slowly wrapped her arms around Collins and put her head on the other girl's shoulder. "Forever?"

Collins kept her eyes closed, kept the tears in, and felt Cat's warmth around her. "Before high school. A long time. I don't know," Collins turned, trying to break out of the tempting circle of Cat's arms.

Something clicked into place for Cat and she let Collins go. She knew how perfect the other girl's parents expected her to be. The best grades. The coolest, nicest friends. The perfect little Catholic daughter.

"Is that why you do it?" Cat asked, breaking away from the hypotheticals now.

Collins nodded without saying a word, eyes still closed and hands balled into fists at her waist.

"Collins," Cat said, suddenly truly regretting most, if not all, of the grief she had put the other girl through about her cutting and her poems and everything else.

Collins took a steadying breath, successfully feeling her eyes start to dry without shedding any tears. "It's not worth crying over," she said to herself.

"It's not?" Cat asked, having heard.

Collins shook her head, "There's nothing I can do. I'm not you, I'm not Annabelle, I can't do it." She turned back to Cat, "My parents, I – I can't get by right now without them. When I'm in college, maybe, but not now. I need them right now." She shook her head again, "And I know, I know that sounds terrible, but they don't know the real me and I do and I can't," Collins stopped short, trying less successfully not to cry.

Cat moved forward and ran her thumbs under Collins' eyes, wiping the beginnings of tears away. "You're right, no crying. Crying is bad and I don't know how to handle it and you know how I deal with things I don't know how to handle." They both laughed a bit. "I get loud and angry and you don't need that right now."

Collins nodded and allowed Cat to guide her back to Kristen's bed. "Where's Kristen anyway?" She asked, suddenly remembering their other roommate.

"Some study session so she doesn't fail again," Cat said, moving Collins' hair behind her ear.

Collins nodded again, "Okay."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, closer together on the bed than Collins was completely comfortable with.

"Who knows?" Cat asked.

"Miss Bradley knows, I talked to her about it. I haven't told anyone else, but I think sometimes that Annabelle knows." Collins blinked, "Oh, and Michelle Peters."

"Michelle Peters knows? Why?"

Collins blushed and smiled, "Because I made out with her freshman year." She laughed.

"For real?" Cat was dumbfounded. "I – wow, Collins. I didn't know you had it in you! Michelle Peters?"

Collins smiled wider and giggled. "Yeah. It was okay. She wasn't really my type."

"Hot and athletic and hot isn't your type?" Cat asked, still processing that Collins – mousy little Collins – had made out with the girl that had once had half the school drooling.

"No. I like bad girls. Michelle was a good girl," Collins said in reply.

Something in this made Cat pause. She blinked again. She was a bad girl…

"Do you like anyone now?" Cat asked hesitantly.

Collins blushed more deeply this time and did not respond.

"Collins?" Cat leaned forward and, reaching up, turned Collins' face so she could see the smaller girl's eyes, which were definitely not looking at anything but the floor.

Collins took a moment to take stock of the situation. Cat now knew that she was gay. Cat, the girl she'd been crushing on for years. She girl who was sort of her friend. Sometimes. And was a total bitch to her the rest of the time, even now that they lived together. The girl who kissed Annabelle in the pool tonight. And was now holding her face gently and asking for the truth.

Collins nodded, still not looking at Cat.

"Who?"

Collins finally made eye contact with Cat, lifting one corner of her mouth. "I think you can figure that one out, Cat. There aren't many 'bad girls' here." Collins looked away again, waiting for Cat's hand to drop.

But it didn't. Instead Cat leaned forward until their noses were almost touching.

"How long have you liked me?" She asked, waiting until Collins looked back at her. She heard the other girl gulp at their proximity.

"A while."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Um, because we're barely friends and I didn't want you to hate me even more," Collins replied honestly.

Cat smiled, touching their foreheads together. "We are friends Collins, I'm just a fucked up bitch. And I don't hate you. You're too sweet to hate."

Collins smiled back, and then looked apprehensive again. "Are you going to kiss me?"

"I'm trying to decide. I've already kissed one girl tonight, and that girl or Kristen could come back at any minute," Cat said honestly.

"I don't care if we get caught, if that helps. Michelle and I got caught, by Miss Bradley, that's why I talked to her about it. About being gay."

The word hung in the air between them for a moment, before Cat leaned forward and kissed Collins softly. Much more softly than she'd kissed Annabelle earlier. This was gentle, because that's what Cat figured Collins would want.

Collins whimpered and kissed Cat back more forcefully, pushing into the taller girl until Cat was forced to lean back against the bed with Collins half on top of her. Cat was surprised, but not unpleasantly so.

Collins quickly abandoned Cat's lips in favor of the girl's neck and Cat found herself moaning softly at the feel of lips, tongue and teeth on her skin. She'd always imagined having it out with a girl would be like this, feel this good, but she never imagined little Collins would have such passion.

Collins was elated, but she knew this had to end. Restraining herself from leaving a huge hickey on Cat's neck, she pulled back reluctantly and looked down at her roommate.

"Collins?" Cat asked, breathing heavily.

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you stop? That felt fucking good." Cat grinned.

Collins smiled back, feeling the creeping return of her shyness.

"Because I don't know if you like me," she said bluntly.

Cat groaned, "I didn't even know you were gay! I don't know, Collins, but that felt so good." She looked imploringly up at Collins.

Collins shook her head and moved to stand up. "No, I'm sorry, but I've liked you for too long to just mess around like this." She felt her mind clearing and her libido retreating.

Cat pulled her back, "I'll figure it out okay? Can we just do that again? For a little while?"

Collins visibly wavered. "I don't know."

"I promise I'll think about it, pronto, and we'll talk, but for now, can we just have a little fun? Us, two of the three not-straight girls in this damn school?" Cat pleaded. She never pleaded.

As Collins opened her mouth to reply, the door opened again, revealing Kristen and Annabelle. Collins and Cat leapt apart as best they could.

Kristen looked at them dumbly while Annabelle quirked a brow at Collins, who blushed and shrugged. The four friends faced each other silently for a moment longer, before Annabelle broke the silence.

"Hey guys, good night?"

Cat looked at Collins, who said, "Maybe. We'll see."

Cat mouthed 'We'll talk later' at Collins, who nodded and moved off the bed. Kristen shook her head, muttering something the others couldn't hear, and shooed Cat off her bed as well. Annabelle picked up her guitar and started strumming, motioning with her head for Collins to sit with her. Cat stood awkwardly in the middle of the room for a moment, before moving to her paint set without a word. She made eye contact with Collins again, and smiled. Collins smiled back.


End file.
